Jesse

Chapter 2

Monday was not off to a great start.

I'd rolled out of bed with good intentions. Having guests in the house meant extra mouths to feed, so I decided to make myself useful and cook breakfast. I'd already finished a stack of French toast and was starting in on some eggs and bacon when my mom sauntered in, carrying a box of donuts.

"Mom!" I said, with some consternation. Though maybe I shouldn't have been surprised. After all, unexpected was my mom's preferred way to visit, since it didn't give my dad a chance to tell her no. But it wasn't like her to drop by first thing on a Monday morning.

"Hey, sweetie." Mom set down the box of donuts and walked over to me, dropping a kiss on my head. "Smells yummy."

"Thanks," I said, trying not to sound too annoyed.

I'm not a huge fan of either my mom's motherly gestures or her compliments on my homemaking skills, since I've been more in the business of taking care of her the last few years than the other way around. But I do my best not to let my irritation show. It hurts her feelings, and only leads to fighting.

Her presence put me on edge, though. It's always awkward to have Mom here, in the house that she designed but no longer lives in. She's always commenting on the changes, and attributing anything she dislikes to Mercy's poor taste. Mom knows as well as anyone that the "redecorating" has a lot more to do with werewolves breaking things than it does with Mercy, but that doesn't stop her from trying to get her digs in. Which I don't appreciate, because A) I like Mercy, and B) if Mom really wanted to stay in this house, she could have.

"Dad's not here," I told her. She could have been here to see me, of course, but I got the feeling that wasn't the case.

I hadn't known Dad was gone when I woke up, but I knew it now. If he or Mercy had been here, they would have heard Mom's car approach, and they would have made an appearance by now.

Although surely the members of the pack left on guard duty were aware of her presence. What happened to protecting our territory? I wondered grumpily. Aren't they supposed to keep unwanted visitors out of the house?

I felt a little guilty for thinking this. But the guilt immediately began to recede when my mom made an irritated noise and said, "Well, where is he? It's Monday morning. Shouldn't he be here?"

"He had pack business," I said, flipping the bacon over. I didn't know this for sure, but with everything that had gone on yesterday, I suspected it was true.

"I see," Mom said, sounding critical. "Did he say when he'd be back?"

"No, Mother," I said, with a little more attitude than was probably necessary. "Believe it or not, Dad doesn't present me with an itemized itinerary of his whereabouts every morning. If you really want to know, you could ask-"

But I didn't get to finish that sentence. Because just then, someone snuck up behind me and grabbed my butt.

"What the-" I whirled around, enraged, to see the mini-X-men fire-tamer. His head head barely came up to my shoulder.

As a rule, I don't hit kids. But I do not allow anyone to grab my butt without permission, either. And despite the mini-X-man's appearance, I was pretty positive that I was not dealing with a child here. So I didn't hesitate before I whacked him across the face with my spatula.